A number of alarm systems, such as home or building alarm systems, are designed to notify emergency personnel and provide assistance in emergency situations. Most currently available alarm systems include basic monitoring capabilities to detect alarm events, such as intrusion, fire or other emergencies. Upon detection of a given event, the alarm system sends an appropriate message to a central monitoring station, typically via a land line public telephone network or a cellular link. The central monitoring station, which may be a public or private emergency service provider, typically has an attendant who can respond to the incoming alarm message by dispatching police, fire-fighters, or other third party security or emergency personnel.
Prior art alarm systems generally comprise a control station and a plurality of remote detectors. The control station houses the control circuitry and the data interfaces for communication with a central monitoring station, such as an alarm system monitoring service or an emergency 911 computer-aided dispatch system. Such circuitry may include, for example, telephone jacks, cellular transceivers and radio transponders. Some prior art systems also include interactive capabilities for providing enhanced alarm features. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,449 to Christ et al. discloses an alarm system in which the vital signs of a home care patient are monitored by a unit worn on a patient's wrist. The unit sends an alarm signal to a remote monitoring station if it detects cardiac arrest or some such other medical emergency. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,841 to Rubenstein discloses another patient-worn monitoring device which automatically actuates a base unit to dial an emergency telephone number and deliver a prerecorded message if the patient does not reset the unit within a predetermined time after generating an alarm.
Although existing alarm systems provide sufficient capabilities for various medical needs, the capabilities of existing systems are somewhat limited in certain emergency situations, such as cardiac arrest or other conditions requiring delivery of some type of medical therapy to the patient. For example, when a victim of cardiac arrest is discovered, it is common that an alarm system require a rescuer to call for professional help. Manual steps, such as this one involving a rescuer, consume valuable time in emergency situations. In addition, emergency situations involving medical equipment, such as an automated external defibrillator (AED), sometimes require the assistance of a trained professional to respond and render aid. In a situation where a rescuer does not have sufficient training or cannot locate the proper assistance to operate any such device, the rescuer may have to call for help before rendering aid to the victim. This action can take valuable time and attention away from proper treatment to an injured person. In other scenarios, even when a rescuer calls a 911 service, the location of the victim or the distance of the communication link may make effective assistance impractical or impossible.
Thus, certain emergency situations, such as cardiac arrest or a heart failure, create a need for a system and method that provides assistance in rendering quick and effective aid. In addition, there exists a need for a system to provide more immediate medical attention without the need of a rescuer to spend valuable time requesting emergency aid or to operate complicated medical devices necessary to render aid.